Sask. property values soar 67 per cent over the past four years

The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, January 24, 2013 11:18AM CST
Last Updated Thursday, January 24, 2013 3:29PM CST

If you own property in Saskatchewan, chances are it is worth a lot more now than it was just four years ago.

The Saskatchewan government says the overall value of property in Saskatchewan has increased by 67 per cent over the past four years. The assessment of property has grown from $58 billion in 2009 to $97 billion in the 2013 revaluation year.

"I think that's good news. That's a sign of a growing economy," said Government Relations Minister Jim Reiter.

"Of course, the other side of the equation is people are concerned about what effect that's going to have on property tax."

Both municipalities and the provincial government set property tax rates, with the province setting the education portion to pay for kindergarten to Grade 12.

Reiter says the province is going to take a look at ways to lessen the potential impact of the increase.

"Essentially it's going to be where the mill rate gets set for the various property classes," Reiter said Thursday.

"There's a lot of moving parts to this process, so we've got a lot of work to do yet during the budget process. But the obvious one is, we will be lowering the mill rates from where they currently are, the question is how much."

The current mill rate on residential properties is 9.51, so that means people pay $9.51 for every $1,000 of property value.

The province setting the education property tax is relatively new. School divisions used to do it, but in 2009 the government changed the system to implement a provincewide mill rate for education property tax.

Reiter said the province would do its best, but added he "certainly won't promise that there won't be a tax increase."